General Question

What can I eat when I take my medicine at bedtime?

I take a medication that requires me to eat approximately 350 calories when I take the pill. The medicine has to bind to the food to make it into my bloodstream, if I understand the mechanics correctly.

I have to take this medicine just before I go to bed, because it has a sedative effect. When I first took it, I tried taking the pill with dinner, but I found the sedation too powerful to take it that early in the evening.

Sometimes I eat a piece of really good bread swimming in real butter. Other times, I eat a Pop Tart again with real butter. I like the unfrosted strawberry Pop Tarts. Often I take half a Hershey chocolate bar and dip it in peanut butter and eat that.

I suggest eating less calories at dinner time, and it should be easier to consume the 350 calories late at night. I can sleep right after eating no problem, in fact being hungry makes it hard for me to sleep.

I don’t know if you have any health concerns like cholesterol, diabetes, or even just a weight issue? That might help with suggestions.

I like frozen pretzles. I heat them up in less than 5 minutes in my toaster oven. Low fat, and tastes like a treat. I like the saltiness; my husband makes them with no salt.

I hope you are eating less at suppertime or walking an extra mile per day. If not, you will start gaining one pound every 10 days and in a month or so, you will be 3–4 pounds heavier. Keep that up for a year and you’ll be hauling around an extra 35 pounds of blubber.
Small lifestyle corrections now will keep you on course.

- Crackers and peanut butter/honey – Custard or pudding – Hard-boiled eggs and toast – Milk and cookies – Toaster waffle with a little butter and syrup – And perhaps the most healthy on the list: bowl of hot or cold cereal with low-fat milk and fruit

Unless the drug binds to lipids (fats), a lot of the suggestions above are terrible sorry people, pop tarts and ice cream or cookies is a bad habit to regularly get into. 350 calories of fat amounts to 40 grams, or ⅔ the recommended daily intake, right before bed that a sleeping metabolism will struggle with.

I suggest a protein shake. The best I’ve found is Premier Protein, which has 30g protein, 3g fat, and 5g carb (only 1g sugar). It’s easier to digest than a heavy high carb meal. It’s only 160 calories, so couple it with anything on this list:

@GloPro I agree with part of what you said and very much disagree with other parts.

Drinking before bed time is a recipe for bad sleep. Not to mention the OP will be medicated so it might add in the possibility of not being good for his bladder if he doesn’t wake easily when it is very full.

It is still taught in college text books that it doesn’t matter what time of day you consume your calories, and I personally agree with that. It makes the most sense logically in my mind from how I understand the body stores and uses calories.

I do agree very fatty suggesstions above are less than desiable unless as you said, the drug needs fats.

@JLeslie drinking whey protein does not have the same impact as drinking water. Absorption of liquid forms of protein is ideal for getting binding meds into the body, depending on what the binding agent is. Sleeping on a full stomach every night is a bad idea. It takes hours for the body to digest solid food, even more so in a sleep state.

Liquid takes 1.5 hours to digest. Liquid whey protein is the way to go. We’re talking 11 ounces, here. Digested fairly quickly, pee before bed. No chance this would lead to a full bladder.

(Your mileage will vary as this rate varies with food, fluid intake, medications and activity level – but it is a good place to start.)
A typical, well hydrated adult produces 1 ml of urine per 1 kg of body weight per hour. So for someone weighing 150 pounds you can expect to produce about 70 ml (2.5 – 3 oz) per hour.
Typical micutration point occurs between 250 ml and 750 ml (8 oz to 24 oz) .

It is easy to measure your own output. Just pee in a cup and weigh it – 1 ml is approx = to 1 gram. I start getting uncomfortable when my bladder reaches 400 ml to 500 ml.

With that info you can do the math and with the knowledge gained you can tell if you will sleep through the night.
~I don’t know why this info is not in the service manual that came with our bodies.

I do agree plain water (without food) will move through you faster than the same amount of protein drink will regarding needing to urinate, because the protein drink has sodium and some solids in it. Even if the OP ate the trail mix I suggested he would also be drinking some sort of liquid with it I am sure. My point would be to not overdo liquid intake. A lot of people really don’t understand the connection between liquid in and liquid out. It baffles me. Their normal is to drink constantly and pee constantly. I’m not assuming you are one of those people, but I do know people like that. Two specific friends of mine like that also complain about getting up several times during the night.

For sure if I drank 11 ounces of anything I would need to pee within a few hours.

Our bodies store extra calories not immediately used in muscle, and as glycogen, or even as fat, and then we pull from storage when we need it. A specific amount of calories within a 24 hour period is going to utilized pretty much the same whether consumed at 7pm or 10pm. The problem with late night eating is it is commonly extra calories. I go as far to say people who are late night snackers who are overweight, who really have trouble breaking the habit after years of trying, should just plan their calories for late night, meaning eat their last meal late, and stop trying to overcome their psychological difficulty with giving up the habit.

My point about digestion time relates 100% to quality of sleep. Heavy digestion doesn’t allow for that. And the body will easily absorb most of the liquid. I don’t see how that relates since you said you’d be drinking something to wash your calories down with anyway? Why not drink the calories for easier digestion and intake?

@GloPro I was acknowledging some fluid intake would happen no matter what most likely. Even ice cream has fluid. 11 oz is a lot for me at night, it definitely would cause me to have to pee more than once. As @janbb pointed out the OP can decide for himself how much is too much fluid. He might like your idea.

Thank you, @janbb. Yes, I’m looking for tasty alternatives. There are a lot of good things listed here.

I was told I have to have some fats in the food. An all vegetable or fruit snack won’t do the job. Not to mention, 350 calories of all vegetables or fruits would be enormous.

Last night, I made a piece of toast with good bread, buttered it, and put a piece of cheese on it. I also drank about a cup and half of 2% milk. The calories added up, and it was good tasting.

Believe it or not, I’m not too concerned about gaining weight. My old medication regime had me on some medicines that notoriously cause weight gain. I was 40 lbs. overweight, and it also increased my cholesterol. I’ve been taking this new medicine since last October, and I’ve lost 20 lbs. so far. My cholesterol level has plummeted.

Just a reminder that the trail mix will have lots of fat from the nuts, and veggies with dip, if the dip is made with sour cream or is a dressing like ranch, has lots of fat too. With both you get some vtamins and minerals from the fruits and veggies. But, in your situation since you are not concerned with cholesterol or weight a sweet treat or a grilled cheese is a yummy snack that I would love to be able to eat without worry.

At bed time I would eat something light, low in acid and easily digested as you do not want clunky food sitting in your belly while you sleep. Rice, a half a bagel with smooth peanut butter and Oatmeal without milk comes to mind.

The good part is that they contain all healthy fat (unlike butter and such). One Avo is about 250 calories, so how about a smoothie using some whey powder to get the extra calories needed plus whatever fruits or fruit juices you want to make it as liquefy as desired.

When I was on a special diet for gestational diabetes, the nutritionist ‘prescribed’ a specific bed-time snack for me. It was a few graham crackers and a glass of milk (into which I dunked the grahams), and I got to where I really looked forward to that routine.

I would think that yogurt with some granola, nuts, and fruit on it would be a good option, that would be a healthy dessert. Yogurt has protein and the flora that’s good for your digestive tract; granola has fat and fiber; nuts have good fats and protein; fruits add flavor, and vitamins. You can use high-quality, organic ingredients with no added sweeteners or artificial colors, if that is a concern for you.